Pie Day Trivia

March 14 is a fascinating number for math and science geeks. First off, it is National Pi Day, in honor of the irrational number 3.14. Second, it is Albert Einstein’s birthday (3-14-1879). And third, it is the date that Stephen Hawking died (3-14-18). Put why should pi, the ubiquitous mathematical constant, get all the attention? Princeton University, where Einstein once taught, celebrates pi day with an Einstein look-alike contest (hashtag crazy hair), pie tossing, pie eating, and other pie-related tomfoolery. Now that’s the spirit, mates! To honor the humble pie, Bookshelf presents fascinating, fun — and delicious — pie trivia:

In 1959 rock-and-roll legend Buddy Holly, along with musicians Ritchie Valens and Jiles Richardson (known as “The Big Bopper”), died in an airplane accident. The plane was named “American Pie.” The tragedy inspired Don McLean’s famous song “American Pie” released in 1971. You know the one: “The day that music died / So bye-bye, Miss America Pie / Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry…” In an interview, McLean noted “By the time he was 22 years old, [Holly] had recorded some 50 tracks, most of which he had written himself … in my view and the view of many others, [all absolute hits] … Buddy Holly and the Crickets were the template for all the rock bands that followed.”

In his 38 plays, Shakespeare killed off 74 characters. 30 of them were stabbed to death, 4 were poisoned, 4 were beheaded, and 2 were baked into a pie. In Titus Andronicus, the protagonist exacts revenge on Queen Tamora and her evil family by baking her sons in a pie and serving it to her. Bon appétit! Pass the pepper…

Speaking of meat pies, British actor and producer Peter Shaw wrote The Tale of Sweeney Todd in the late 1990s that was adapted into a screenplay of the same name by Peter Buckman in 1998. It tells the story of an evil barber that murders his clients to sell the victims’ jewelry and gives the corpses to his mistress, Mrs. Lovett, who makes them into meat pies to sell to her clients. Move over Marie Calendar…

Each year, grocery stores in America sell more than 186 million pies, generating more than $700 million